By Kilian In the Garden of Good and Evil & winner of the Jasmine Perfume!

By Kilian In the Garden of Good and Evil.

(Before we dive in, I have a real post coming out later tonight – this week is – oh, wait for it, you’ll find out soon enough! so come back after about 10 p.m. ET)

We’ll do something fun with this right off the bat. Three small sample sets of the new By Kilian In the Garden of Good and Evil are up for three lucky commenters. The earliest I may have them is mid-October, and that’s only if they are in the Sniffa Goody bags. Otherwise, late October, early November, but we’ll do it now so three people will know they have samples coming! Just leave a comment on this Winner of the Jasmine Perfume Sample set post that turned into something else to be entered. Which one most appeals to you just from the descriptions (down below)? (oh, keep going to the bottom for the winner of the Jasmine Perfume sample set)

There is very little about that choice of name for his new perfume collection – By Kilian In the Garden of Good and Evil – that wouldn’t appeal to me. He is again exploring humanity, our choices, our failings, our triumphs. The pure white of the bottle and the case with that serpent going in for the whisper in the ear. Dear God, that packaging! Who does this for him, I want to know?

His themes of love/pain/redemption in the first collection were so appealing – playing with the dark and light, pain and sorrow overlaid with joy, which is how all of life is lived – in twilight.

Yeah, sure I cared what they smelled like, but I had to always fight my predisposition to love them just for the themes, that amazing packaging – oh, no, you can’t review perfume packaging you say? packaging is a huge part of the perfume experience, just ask Guerlain about their use of Baccarat bottles and Nina Ricci what up with all the Lalique, and if I’m going to plunk down 200-500 for a perfume, I want it in something that looks extravagant and worth having, and By Kilian got that – luxury needs to look like luxury.

How many times have I glared at that Profumum bottle that costs $250 and wondered why they can’t at least put it in a bottle with a hint of style? It’s practically the same plain square bottle that Lostmarc’h uses, and they charge sub-$100 for 100 mls of their juice. Parfums de Nicolai has their own bottle they’ve used for years with a sense of style about it, and they are around the $100 mark with a lot more interesting perfumes inside. Can I also just say that Parfums de Nicolai was the first brand whose little price jump I’ve applauded.

Oh, sorry! Back to whatever subject I was on. By Kilian In the Garden of Good and Evil, Octavian teases us –

“The perfumes … exceptional. Ingredients? Exquisite. But I will not tempt you with a review. Or should I? Perfumes are written with the ink of sin and with an ingredient of Paradise, not metaphor, but true fact. The excitement of the forbidden fruits melting with the nectar of flowers. Because Perfume is an Art. From Heaven. Welcome in my garden of forbidden fragrances and flowers…“

Here’s the descriptions for By Kilian In the Garden of Good and Evil stolen as a whole from Luckyscent, where they are taking pre-orders – they say shipping late October. Kilian’s Facebook page is saying November 1 availability.

Created by Calice Becker. “FORBIDDEN GAMES, literally. FORBIDDEN GAMES embodies the spirit of a temptation that leads to total abandon. FORBIDDEN GAMES is a composition of fruits and spices, flowers and amber; A nectar of fruits prohibited to mortals. The perfume opens on a potpourri of fruits – Apple, Peach, Plum – spiced by Cinnamon bark from Laos. Then the perfume advances into a lush, exuberant floral heart – Bulgarian Rose Orpur, Geranium Bourbon, and Midnight Jasmine – before disappearing slowly into a sweet confection of Madagascar Vanilla, Laotian Honey and the spellbinding resinous oil of Opoponax. FORBIDDEN GAMES: when going beyond the boundaries has never been so exciting.

Developed by Calice Becker. “IN THE CITY OF SIN, a perfume as the opening face of the collection. IN THE CITY OF SIN, a place of extreme temptation where every street corner offers the possibility of impromptu encounters and seductions….IN THE CITY OF SIN is a rich composition of fruits and spices, flowers and woods, in which the essence of fruit liquefies and melts onto the heady woods. The perfume opens with an explosion of Bergamote from Calabria, pink Peppercorns and Cardamom from Guatamala. The perfume then evolves into a heart of Apricots and caramelized Plums held in check by the Turkish Rose Absolute. A light haze of Indonesian Incense entrances and then lends a profound depth, further sustained by Atlas and Virginia Cedar woods and rich Indonesian Patchouli. IN THE CITY OF SIN, when the door opens onto a universe without limits: the quest for ecstasy is launched.

Created by Albert Morillas. “GOOD GIRL GONE BAD typifies a special sort of woman. A perfume that represents a kind of voluptuousness beloved by Kilian : sensual and unrestrained…GOOD GIRL GONE BAD is a composition of fruits and flowers, a perfume as bewitching as bursts of laughter, a barrier moved beyond, a forgotten prohibition. The perfume opens on the fresh innocence of the petals of Jasmin Sambac and the apricot sweetness of Chinese Osmanthus…The Rose of May gives off its honeyed heat. The Indian Tuberose nakedly exhibits its milky roundness, while the narcotic sensuality of Egyptian Narcissus surges forth, uncontrollable and deliciously haunting. Notes of Virginia Cedar and Amber open up and try to assert their dominant character In order to contain that outpouring of opulence, but they never succeed in taming it completely. The tension is palpable; the addiction exacerbated; the pleasure consummated.. GOOD GIRL GONE BAD, when the woman become a temptress, a sinner – when she dares and when she proves her audacity.“

So my basic premise remains – packaging, story, then make sure you get good perfumers to create perfume that, at a minimum, is interesting and good. Doesn’t always have to be great if you’ve got everything else working. I’m anxiously awaiting these releases, and I can’t help but love that it is over the top from the ad copy to the packaging to the perfume, and I actually like that. It takes a lot to go all in on something, declaring your passion for what you have created, and what you can never say of Kilian Hennessey is that he didn’t go all in. Hmmm, I had a lot more to say on that subject that I thought!

BTW, Denyse at Grain de Musc has a Serge Lutens Une Voix Noire review, so you should pop over there and read it. Us realistic gardenia lovers aren’t going to be happy, but her description has me still very interested in it. I’m okay with gardenia interpretations if they are artistically interesting.

First winner is Comment 115, Kacey! Second winner is comment 70 – Liane! clickety click on the Contact Us up there at the top, send me your mailing address, remind me that you won the Jasmine sample set, I’ll give you a quick reply so you know I got it and it didn’t get trapped in the spam filter drain, and I’ll get it mailed out to you. Enjoy!

I am a sucker for packaging, though this doesn’t particularly grab me. I give it an A+++, don’t get me wrong, but I am not a white person at all. It’s gorgeous.

I’d have several Malle’s were it not for the drab little bottles. For 300 bucks, I want some…somethin’.

Doesn’t have to be flashy or blingy (though I love me some flash and bling) but at that price point, I need some sort of fanciness.

And I for one miss the old Amouage bottles. Their current ones fulfill the fancy requirement; they feel substantial and look lovely on my vanity, and I get that they were looking for brand unity….. but I miss the old bottles that were unique to the juice and had that slightly over-the-top Arabian look.

I’m not a white person either, but this will look amazing next to my black By Kilian boxes! 🙂

You know, I couldn’t figure out why Malle didn’t do something a little more elaborate. Not a lot, but that plain bottle is, well, plain. I totally get that indie perfumers don’t/can’t. Getting a specialty bottle in 2-3 sizes requires a big commitment on volume to get the price to somewhere near reasonable, but! Sheesh. Throw me a bone when I’m shelling about almost 300 clams for Carnal Flower! 🙂

Agree about amouge. I really loved that old Arabic feeling bottle. I think they wanted to be more international, so I get why they moved away from it, but sometimes embracing your roots and merging the two things could be pretty nifty!

Look at that packaging! The golden serpent..lust! Not generally a fan of white but yowza. In the City of Sin sounds most tempting, I think but they all sound good. And they come in That Bottle. :In-Love:

I know!! It’s that snake against the white enamel that just did me in. I’ll buy a bottle of even the worst dreck to get that damn box!. It’s painful to realize I’m this shallow, but I”m really okay with it by this point in my life.

They are! I signed up on his web page for those free samples you’re supposed to get ahead of a launch, but so far nothing. I’m not sure anything has been sent out yet, but I’m just crossing my fingers that that or some other sample set comes through before November 1. That’s sooooooooo long away!

When I got my first paycheck (1980) I bought 1 oz of L’Air du Temps. I loved that double dove bottle as much as the juice! The theme of this collection is thought provoking~~”Good girl gone bad”-wow, that’s me :-}

Good Girl Gone Bad for the name alone. The white packaging though, drools… By Kilian does have one of the best cohesive brand images for a niche perfumery that I’ve seen. I know it rubs some people the wrong way, but if money was no object I have a bottle of Rose Oud ASAP.

I try to be cool about perfume packaging and all blase, but I just cant when someone does something really cool-looking! I agree, he has his branding down perfectly – it is luxe, the packaging reflects that, but then he offers those refill bottles, which puts his scents in range if a person wants to work out a nice split.

But it’s plum! and Cinnamon!! And Jasmine!!! and Vanilla!!!!~! Sorry, that one has me transfixed as well. I don’ t like fruity florals, but I think this will be – or I hope! – a little smuttier. A smutty fruity floral is a dream.

Jaclyn, I know! those damn boxes. In that other post referral thingie right before comments start, I found my old original review of the Kilians, and I went on and on about that black box. It really took me until Pure Oud to fall completely in love with one of his, and then I went head over heels for all of the Ouds and Love and Tears and Sweet Redemption (is it Redemption?) and Beyond Love. I like the Asian Tales, I think they just seem too light and not so memorable to command that price tag.

But I neeeeeeeeeds the white box! Heck, I want a set of three! But a set of three is completely out of the question, unless Kilian Hennessey would happen to notice this post and drop by and say, oh, hey, Patty, thanks for the box lust, we think you should have three of them. That would be so awesome.

Anyone know Kilian, and can you talk him into making my day/week/month/year?

Yeah, I think anyone who has spent some time in the Fall of Man and good/evil themes through religion will find this a little hard to not at least look at. that’s the first part of the appeal to me, from an artistic standpoint – how he will interpret that through scent.

then it’s just pure materialistic letchery for that white enamel box. Which shows you the human condition in just one little tiny comment box!

I’d have to choose In The City of Sin as my first choice to try because of the incense note and the interesting combination of other scents. My favorite By Kilian fragrance so far is Sweet Redemption because I love the first notes of orange blossom that eventually dry to the smell of incense on my skin. I’d love to try more of these fragrances, so please enter me in the draw. Thanks for your generosity!

I know when Perfumes: The Guide came out, I used to make fun of Luca’s fan-girl attitude about Calice Becker. The more I smell her perfumes in the last couple of years, I really get it, though I still don’t understand Tommy Girl.

They all sound amazing, but if I had to pick just one… I think I’d go with In the City of Sin, not just for the notes but also because the name makes me think of Nawlins and I’m in a nostalgic mood right now 🙂

You know, if that happens, I think I’d just explain that the good girl gone bad refers to the guy she went bad for because it’s always about a guy, and there,all tidied up with a bow, no further explanation needed. Or just tell them it’s from the Garden of Good and Evil series and give no additional details. 🙂

I’ll be damned! What a heavenly written review. This does seem to be a deeply complex scent … and one I’m intrigued by. Hmmm … I just may have to wear my jasmine concoction and see if anyone wants to give me a gift card when I show them what Surrendering to Chance can really mean. *Wicked Smile*

I am eagerly awaiting the release of these perfumes. I think the presentation is gorgeous. The one calling my name is Good Girl Gone Bad. Love heady white flowers in perfume, hoping that the jasmine and tuberose are dominant. Thanks for the draw.

Congrats to the jasmine draw winners!
I can’t wait to try these “In the Garden of Good and Evil ” series…
Especially the last two.
I hope the fruity notes are rendered subtle and elegant, rather than fruit -shampoo-like…

Yeah, I’m wondering about all the fruit in them, but given it’s the Garden of good and Evil and that whole apple thing that kicked it off, that makes some sense. I hope they send me back in love with fruity florals again.

I know, I know. I used to apologize because I loved some packaging and would spend too much on a perfume just because I loved it the packaging. But I have to price bottles and packaging, and that crap isn’t cheap!

Good Girl Gone Bad! Pleeeeeeeze pleeeeeeze I want to win these. As an amber-amping amber-phobe, I would not normally buy samples of these but the packaging beckons and should I, say, *win* a sample, I might fall in love and be TEMPTED to add a full bottle of one of these beauties!

Absolutely love the packaging (on the picture, of course), have a huge respect for the brand and hope to love one of the scents enough to go for the FB. I like the name In the City of Sin the most but I’ll be an open-minded and will try all of them.

All three sound so incredibly tempting, pun intended. If forced to choose one I guess it would be Forbidden Games since all I have to go by so far are the notes. I suspect this series will do major damage to my wallet. Note to self- start dropping hints for Christmas.

These all sound good (I’m a sucker for By Kilian, and for Calice Becker, so they had me hooked from the start). IN THE CITY OF SIN has the best sounding notes, but who wouldn’t want GOOD GIRL GONE BAD?

I love that the Garden of Good and Evil are white (and not black). These names in black packaging would be too kitschy.

Back to Black would have fit into this series well, except that it’s not fruity. But it fits the theme.

The one that sounds most appealing to me is ‘In The City of Sin’. I’m a guy and this one sounds like the most traditionaly masculine offering from this collection. The combination of (forbidden) fruits & woody undertones, just sounds so seductive. I love the word play, I live in a big city – so the Babylonian references to our excesses in large cities is so perfect! I can’t wait to sample these 😀

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